Pakau Njogu and Jinack

On Tuesday we visited our school at Pakau Njogu, The ferry crossing was rough but we were accompanied by dolphins swimming close to the ferry. We had hired a lorry to take all the boxes of Shoe Boxes which had been donated and made up by friends, schools, cubs and scouts, 350 in all. We had a bumpy journey along narrow tracks and at one point we had to be dug out of the soft sand but we made it. The children and teachers were pleased to see us and the children were over the moon with their presents. We paid the sponsored childrens fees and gave the parents the money for uniforms etc and then sat down under the tree for a meal of fish yassa and rice shared by all the children and villagers.
The journey back was uneventful until we reached the ferry where we had a four hour wait for a ferry and arrived back at the hotel at 9.30pm tired and dusty but very happy with the days events. We had a quick shower and fell into bed without even bothering with a meal.

Thursday it was off to Jinack Island to visit the nursery, this time we used Alex's 4x4 as the track can be very bad at this time of year. Arrived at the crossing to the island and all waded out and got into the little pirogue, this time none of us fell in, We joined the teachers and watched them with their classes, they appear to have learned a lot from the course we sent them on and can't wait to go again in the next holiday. The rains have taken their toll on the nursery building, there are cracks in the walls and the roof is looking more than a little sick.
We paid for the sopnsored childrens shoes and meals but as the teachers are sponsored and we supply equipment there are no nursery fees ( to make up for this we are going to give the teachers a bag of rice as well as the children in March).

Chamin Ladies Group.

Today we visited the ladies of Chamin Village. We had lent them some money a year ago to start up small a small buisness and we were keen to see how they had progressed. Things are going well and the ladies have said that they will be able to repay in full by next October as agreed.
We have ordered some table cloths to bring back with us to sell at the Dickensian Evening in Ware and the profits will help to pay off some of the loan. The ladies treated us to a very nice meal of chicken domada and rice which we ate in the shade of the mango tree.

Jenoi and Keneba

On Tuesday we left the hotel just after 7am made the journey to Banjul in time for the ferry at 8, it was packed as usual and late,from the ferry we drove to Farafennie and then on to another ferry and a short journey to Jenoi Nursery, just a short drive, only seven hours over some very rough roads.
We had a great couple of hours paying the sponsored childrens fees etc and giving out boxes of clothes and sorting out the details for digging the well. we then went to Karamo's compound for a meal of rice and vegetables and then set off for Tendaba where we were spending the night, this is where the roads got really bad and it took until 8pm before we arrived, tired and covered in red dust, luckily Tendaba camp has showers, well a slow drip but we managed to look almost respectable for a meal of coconut soup, chicken yassa ( chicken with bones in an onion sauce) and fresh water melon, then an early night ready for a quick start after a breakfast of bread, cheese and a boiled egg + many cups of coffee.
We left Tendaba at 7.30am and what should have been a one hour drive turned into nearly three hours because of the state of the roads which had been washed away in places. We arrived at Keneba to find that the school had decided to have a day off so we had to go round the village, find the head mistress and get the sponsored children and their parents to the school where we paid the fees and gave the parents money for uniforms, shoes and meals.
We left Keneba at 11am and found that the main road had completely vanished and we were driving over some of the roughest ground we had ever seen some of the potholes were nearly as deep as the car and I hate to think what state the suspension was in by the end of the journey.
We finaly arrived back at our hotel just after 5pm, tired and dirty, had a quick shower a meal and were in bed by 9.30.